France Football Reveals 30-Man Shortlist for 2018 Ballon D'Or
France Football revealed its 30-man shortlist for the 2018 Ballon d'Or on Monday, with a familiar cast of characters leading the charge for the individual award.
FIFA 'Best' finalists Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah are included on the 30-player shortlist, as are Lionel Messi, Neymar, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe. Modric will be looking to sweep the FIFA, UEFA best player and Ballon d'Or trophies after his Golden Ball showing in leading Croatia to its first World Cup final and helping Real Madrid win a third straight Champions League title. If he wins, it will snap a 10-year run in which either Ronaldo or Messi has won the award. The rivals each share the all-time lead with five titles apiece.
The award, which had merged with FIFA's top player award for six years from 2010-2015 before separating, will be given out later this year.
The best soccer player in the world over the last year, at least according to France Football's voting panel, will come from a list of these 30 players:
Sergio Aguero (Man City, Argentina)
Alisson (Liverpool/Roma, Brazil)
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid, Wales)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France)
Edinson Cavani (PSG, Uruguay)
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid/Chelsea, Belgium)
Kevin De Bruyne (Man City, Belgium)
Roberto Firmino (Liverpool, Brazil)
Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid, Uruguay)
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid, France)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea, Belgium)
Isco (Real Madrid, Spain)
Harry Kane (Tottenham, England)
N'Golo Kante (Chelsea, France)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, France)
Mario Mandzukic (Juventus, Croatia)
Sadio Mane (Liverpool, Senegal)
Marcelo (Real Madrid, Brazil)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG, France)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia)
Neymar (PSG, Brazil)
Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid, Slovenia)
Paul Pogba (Manchester United, France)
Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona, Croatia)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid, Spain)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Real Madrid, Portugal)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt)
Luis Suarez (Barcelona, Uruguay)
Raphael Varane (Real Madrid, France)
